eBay

surplustech4u · ‎04-21-2019

I’d like to get others opinion on this issue.

It appears that eBay is allowing perpetrators of racist hate speech to continue their membership in the eBay community.

I recently sold a computer to an individual on via eBay. He was a first time buyer on eBay since he had no feedback at all. Shortly after he received his PC, he filed a claim for a refund stating that it wouldn’t start up. He never contacted me prior to his claim filing as is customary. I’ve sold thousands of PCs and I test them again before I ship so I questioned his claim. He didn’t like my message at all. He replied with racial slurs and hate speech. And then to my amazement, he cancelled the claim. This leads me to believe maybe there wasn’t really anything wrong with the PC to begin with.

I informed eBay of the incident and they took immediate action by deleting both feed back. However, they didn’t take severe enough action with the buyers account. The buyer was given a slap on the wrist and told not to do it again instead of a permanent ban. Most of the country has adopted a “Zero Tolerance” on racial or hate speech. To include the military, government, and most volunteer organizations I can think of. However eBay, in this case, has not. I’m wondering what you, my eBay family, thinks about this. I would like to hear back from you weither you think I’m over reacting or if I’m not reacting enough. I am posting a redacted image of the entire conversation so you can get the total picture of what conversation transpired. Tell me what you think. Thanks

surplustech4u · ‎04-21-2019

You're probably right.

richard1rst · ‎04-21-2019

@slati_2013 wrote:
Oh, I missed that third word. However that word is now just thrown around as an insult regardless of the race of a person. A black baseball player recently got suspended when he used it against a white pitcher who hit him with a ball. Unfortunately that word has now permeated general usage among the younger generation who use it as a general insult rather than a racist insult.

Pretty much the point I tried to make in my original comment.

To say nothing of the rap group N---s With Attitude. And who can ever forget Richard Pryor's stand up acts.

mr_lincoln · ‎04-21-2019

@richard1rst wrote:

The problem is that what one person sees as “racist hate speech” is just another’s innocent colloquialism.

Without seeing exactly what they said (which of course you can not print) we have no point of reference.

I have a lot of Italian friends (I’m not - my brother married into the clan) and we swap barbs back and forth, good naturedly, on a regular basis. But one day I was chastised by the Speech Police (a non-Italian) for “racist hate speech”. So I (Italian) saluted her, said yes Officer and walked away. No hate or racism was ever intended.

An article in today’s paper talks about a librarian named Sofia Leung who says Library collections continue to promote and proliferate whiteness by their very existence. Apparently Shakespeare, et al, were racists. I’m betting Leung is not a European name.

No doubt that real racism exists. But when common phrases are labelled racist it diminishes the legitimate complaints.

I thought this was a good post and point of reference is really important in these kind of situations. What might be a racial slur to some is not to others and to your point, WE here do not know nor will we ever know what was written. I have no doubt the OP would love to share the exact text but they know it is verboten ...

You know, the sad thing about a lot of this is that most of us posting today had absolutely nothing to do with any of the past historical situations that gave birth to and perpetuated some of the racial bias we face today. I also believe that as the worldwide community continues to "blend" through the joining of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds giving birth to new multi-background individuals that there will be fewer and fewer "pure-bread" (spell?) groups of a particular ethnic background.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

richard1rst · ‎04-21-2019

Thank you for your comments. I have to admit that as I was typing it I wasn't sure what reaction I would get. When the University of California, Irvine tries to ban the display of the American flag because they see it as a symbol of racism it really is out of hand.

A small cadre of nut cases notwithstanding we are the most tolerant and welcoming country in the world. Try emigrating to Japan if you want to see what National Racism really looks like.

mr_lincoln · ‎04-21-2019

@richard1rst wrote:
Thank you for your comments. I have to admit that as I was typing it I wasn't sure what reaction I would get. When the University of California, Irvine tries to ban the display of the American flag because they see it as a symbol of racism it really is out of hand.

A small cadre of nut cases notwithstanding we are the most tolerant and welcoming country in the world. Try emigrating to Japan if you want to see what National Racism really looks like.

You are more then welcome ... one time value range for a "generation" is 22 to 33 years so lets split that and round it to 28 years. Japan at the end of WW2 was still an imperialistic society so as of today they are less then 3 generations removed from that and still trying to figure out who they are in the world. They will continue to grow and change as time goes on as they continue to interact with the rest of the world ... I've been there so I understand a little of what you are saying but I have also seen their desire to grow and change. 90% of their population lives on 18% of their land mass ... we have no concept of that in our wide open spaces here.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

namele365 · ‎04-21-2019

@mr_lincoln wrote:
90% of their population lives on 18% of their land mass ... we have no concept of that in our wide open spaces here.

My first impression was how low that percentage is, relative to the size of the land mass.

doctorfegg · ‎04-21-2019

I am saddened by many of the poster's responses and essential dismissal of OP's frustration and anxiety related to receiving a buyer's racist and homophobic remarks (see OP's post #12 - they posted the string of emails in the SNAD dispute - who knows how long that post will stay up). While OP responded in a defensive say when the buyer said the computer would not boot up I certainly don't see how the buyer's reprehensible response should be downplayed as being essentially not all that bad.

OP - I send you my best wishes.

city*satins · ‎04-21-2019

While his language was unacceptable, I can't say I think much of your communication with him - basically you seemed to be saying that since it worked before you sent it to him, therefore it must have worked when it arrived at his door and that you weren't doing anything on his say so.

That's not exactly sterling customer service and if the buyer hadn't closed the case he would have won it.

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sharingtheland · ‎04-21-2019

~~No doubt that~~ real racism exists

FTFY

Sherry

=^.^= =^.^=
( ) ( )
" " =^.^= " "

city*satins · ‎04-21-2019

90% of their population lives on 18% of their land mass ... we have no concept of that in our wide open spaces here.

Is that radically different from the US population?

I know it's definitely not different than Canada where 90% of its population lives within 100 miles of the US border, i.e. occupies considerably less than 18% of their land mass.

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fashunu4eeuh · ‎04-21-2019

Hi, what he wrote was reprehensible, sorry you received that awful response.

I am not downplaying his egregious behavior when i say your second message back to him was rude and demanding. On eBay, buyers are not required to send pictures or other evidence to sellers to prove their Not As Described cases.

You questioned his veracity in an abrupt manner, without even considering that he was telling the truth. Just because you tested the computer prior to shipping does not mean he received a working computer. Shipping damage happens.

And altho user error was likely, i saw little in your responses that suggested you wanted to help find a resolution to his problem. Yes, he should have contacted you directly for help. But as a first-time buyer, it is possible he did not know how to accomplish that. And eBay makes it easier to start a return than contact a seller.

A brand new buyer without a clue as to how the venue works was beyond frustrated and you said you couldnt wrap your head around his problem, rather than inquire about how best to help him.

Instead, you helped him right over the edge. Doesn’t let him off the hook for his unforgivable breach, i’m just saying you did nothing to diffuse the situation, then threw a little gasoline on a burning ember. What if he was telling the truth?

richard1rst · ‎04-21-2019

@doctorfegg wrote:
I certainly don't see how the buyer's reprehensible response should be downplayed as being essentially not all that bad.

I did not downplay it as "not all that bad". I did comment that clearly the buyer was on the left aside of the Bell Curve. (which, of course, only makes sense if you understand the Bell Curve).

What I did do was downplay the claim that the ENTIRE comment was racist when only one word of it could be. And that would be ONLY IF the seller was African American AND the buyer KNEW he was African American. Otherwise the comments were simply Ignorance on Parade. The rest of the comment was simply base profanity which is not actually racist.

ed8108 · ‎04-21-2019

@richard1rst wrote:

An article in today’s paper talks about a librarian named Sofia Leung who says Library collections continue to promote and proliferate whiteness by their very existence.
×××××××××××××××××××

Hopefully this article doesn't promote massive civil unrest .

Learn to live in peace & harmony with each other.

myjunqueyourtreasure · ‎04-21-2019

@city*satins wrote:
90% of their population lives on 18% of their land mass ... we have no concept of that in our wide open spaces here.

Is that radically different from the US population?

I know it's definitely not different than Canada where 90% of its population lives within 100 miles of the US border, i.e. occupies considerably less than 18% of their land mass.

You could say the same of Australia where 90% of the population huddles around the coastline (but then a large % of the country is desert)

Reality is the leading cause of stress.